We sold out after working more than 30 years in the oil and gas industry and we are in search of viable alternatives to militarism, materialism, environmental exploitation and dependence on rapidly declining fossil fuel reserves.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Elizabeth May managed to ask a straight-forward question about the Conservative Goverment's willingness to ignore the will of British Columbians regarding oil tankers of the BC Coast. I have provided the link, and I will reproduce the text here.

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister for many years expressed concern as an Albertan about the heavy-handed intrusion of federal policy on the will of Albertans.
Right now, British Columbians oppose supertankers on the coastline, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities opposes the supertankers and today’s polls show, by a margin of three to one, that British Columbians do not want oil tankers on their coastline.
Will the Prime Minister run roughshod over the will of British Columbians for his pet project?

Hon. Denis Lebel: Mr. Speaker, our government is confident that sound regulations are in place to ensure petroleum products are transported safely along the B.C. coast.
In the last five years, close to 500 supertankers have been close to the shores with no accidents. All tankers arriving in Canadian ports are inspected by Transport Canada to ensure that they comply with all Canadian and international regulations.

Notice how Conservative Minister Lebel answered the question "... the Union of British Columbia Municipalities opposes the supertankers and today’s polls show, by a margin of three to one, that British Columbians do not want oil tankers on their coastline. Will the Prime Minister run roughshod over the will of British Columbians for his pet project?" with "our government is confident that sound regulations are in place to ensure petroleum products are transported safely along the B.C. coast.".

A shorter, more straight forward version of the exchange looks like this:
Q. British Columbians clearly don't want oil tankers in our coastal waters. Does PM Harper intend to run roughshod over the will of the people?
A. Yes - absolutely.